Soccer Team Adds More Offense
Got the soccer bug, but frustrated by watching those English league defenders pass the ball around the back line with seemingly no intention of trying to score?
Check out a UC Irvine women’s game next fall.
Coach Marine Cano led the Anteaters to a 12-4-3 record and a national ranking as high as 14th last season--both tops in school history--but he often lamented his team’s defensive play. So Cano hit the recruiting trail this spring and his top two recruits are . . . a winger and an offensive midfielder.
“We’re going to go all out and attack people,” he said, cheerfully.
Ah, there’s a surprise. Last year, Irvine scored 36 goals and gave up 20, and the Anteaters’ top four scorers were three freshmen and a sophomore. Cano figures there will be at least two more young guns in that group in ’96.
Laura Lamb, a second-team All-Southern Section selection and 1996 State and District Olympic Development Program player from Edison High, likely will move into the starting left forward spot and Cherise Heep, an Olympic Development Program midfielder who was the athlete of the year at La Canada High, figures to see plenty of action too.
“Laura has a lot of speed, but she can also take players on and swing the ball over in front of the goal,” Cano said. “We really needed to step up our attack from the left flank. Last year, our left back [Kim Kaitanjian] provided most of our attack from that side, but now we’ll have a proven goal scorer over there at forward who can beat people one-on-one.
“Cherise can be our maestro in the middle if [center midfielder] Anna [Klein] needs to come out, or we can run them together with Cherise playing more of an attacking center half.
“She’s got a bag of skills, can score with either foot and she can hold the ball.”
You won’t see the Anteaters’ back line playing keep-away; they’ll be pushing forward with their eyes riveted on the goal. But Cano will be stressing team defense instead of putting all the pressure on Boes and the marking backs to keep opponents at bay.
“Our defense last year was weak, but as a group, not just on the back line,” Cano said. “We needed to bolster our defense all over the field and that’s why my first priority in recruiting was depth.”
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Rough diamonds: Cano says another one of his talent-search goals every year is to come up with one player who was not heavily recruited but can develop into an impact player in Division I.
This year’s candidate is Joy Avedesian, a forward/goalkeeper from Arcadia High.
“I saw her in a high school all-star game and was really impressed with her understanding of the concepts of the game,” Cano said. “She’s incredibly fast, has great moves, is very creative and really knows the game.”
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Anteater Notes
Andrew Carlson, a 6-foot-10 center from Poway High who led his team in scoring (13 points per game) and rebounding (10), and Wendell Robinson, a 6-8 forward from Santa Monica College who averaged nine points and six rebounds, have signed letters of intent to attend Irvine. Carlson was a first-team All-San Diego Section selection and Robinson, who helped Santa Monica finish third in the state tournament, was a first team All-Western State Conference selection as a freshman and sophomore. . . . The men’s tennis team, ranked No. 30 in the Rolex/Intercollegiate Tennis Assn. poll, will meet No. 8 Pepperdine in the NCAA Region VIII Regional Friday at the Fertitta Tennis Complex at Nevada Las Vegas. The Anteaters lost to the Waves, 7-0, Feb. 16 at Malibu. Irvine’s Marc Tardiff moved into the singles rankings for the first time this year at No. 86. . . . The sailing team qualified for the national dinghy championships scheduled June 12-14 at Madison, Wis., with a second-place finish in the Pacific Coast Championships at Redwood, Calif., last weekend. . . . Senior Jesse Lanham was named to the All-Big West Conference men’s golf second team. Lanham finished 28th at the conference tournament at Fort Ord Golf Course last week with three consecutive rounds of 78. Irvine finished ninth in the tournament. . . . Water polo Coach Ted Newland was inducted into the Occidental College Athletic Hall of Fame Wednesday. Newland, a 1954 graduate of Occidental, has been the Anteaters’ head coach for 30 years.
Junior Skye Green lowered her school-record in the 400-meter hurdles Saturday at the Steve Scott Invitational with a 58.99. The men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete Saturday at the Occidental Invitational. The Big West Conference Championships are May 17-18 at Utah State. . . . Midfielder Nicole Kelly, who had a goal and four assists before suffering a knee injury Oct. 6 and undergoing major reconstructive surgery, is back running and kicking and should be ready to play when the season opens. . . . Three Irvine water polo players--senior Kevin Kerber, junior Omar Amr and sophomore Robert Allaire--were named to the conference all-academic team. . . .Irvine’s 1996 summer soccer camps, for boys and girls ages 5 to 17, will be held in July and August. Day camps, residential camps and afternoon sessions are available for field players and goalkeepers. Costs range from $60 to $285. For more information, call (714) 824-1096. . . . The women’s volleyball team will hold its Anteater Clinic for girls ages 9 to 16 July 15-19 at Irvine. The sessions run from 9 a.m. to noon and cost is $90. For more information, call assistant coach Lance Stewart at (714) 824-8225. . . . The men’s basketball program will hold summer camps for boys and girls ages 8 to 17 on June 24-28 and Aug. 5-9. Sessions run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and cost $220. For information, call administrative assistant Shelly Toole at (714) 824-8536.
